Monday, April 14, 2008

CRUNCHY JICAMA SLAW WITH LIME & CILANTRO

The weather has been amazing here in California (93 yesterday), so I've been starting to grill more on the outdoor BBQ because everyone else is doing it so the neighborhood is just filled with beautiful aromas of steak and burgers and chicken and it's pretty hard to resist! 

With the rich and often fatty meats, I like to try and just make something refreshing to go along with... I call it a neutralizer. So I'm at the store yesterday and I see the jicama. I remember a slaw I had once at Tommy Bahamas... so I'm inspired to make my own version which is a cross between a slaw and a salsa. It's crunchy and refreshing and goes amazing with fatty pork or anything with bbq sauce.



For the fresh slaw:

~ 1.5 C shredded cabbage
~ 1.5 C chopped Jicama
~ 1 Lime (I store my limes in the freezer so I always have them on hand for juice)
~ .5 C chopped Cilantro
~ 1 tsp grated Ginger (I put ginger in the freezer and it makes it a cinch to grate anytime I need just a little)
~ 1 TBSP Simple Syrup (or 1 tsp sugar)
~ Salt & Pepper

For those who have never had jicama, it's sort of like a really crispy pear, but it tastes like a cross between a potato and a radish (only it's not spicy at all like radishes are). It's really good in salads and as a crunch ingredient in things like salsa or tuna salad. 

Chop the jicama and the cabbage roughly the same size - mix all ingredients together, and after tasting you can add just a teensy bit of salt and pepper if you think it needs it, but making this "salty" will ruin it both in taste, as well is in texture (it will become soggy). I have also added a small dollup of mayonnaise before, but I personally prefer it without.  If your lime is really juicy, you might need a tad more syrup/sugar to cut the tart.